Cinematical's Cannes Preview: Synecdoche, NY

Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman makes his directorial debut with this film, which stars the ever-excellent Philip Seymour Hoffman as Caden, a playwright who finds that his autonomic functions are shutting down just as he begins a new play. We don't know much about it, other than it explores Caden's relationships with the various women in his life around the backdrop of the staging of the play, and that Catherine Keener plays his first wife, Michelle Williams his second wife, and Samantha Morton his lover. Like the previous films Kaufman has written, this one is supposed to explore blurrings of reality, and it's been described as kind of like a horror film, but not really. Trippy.

WHY WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT IT

With talent like this, what's not to be excited about? Hoffman is consistently good in every film he takes on, the female roles are filled by women who excel in strong roles for women, and the quirky, brilliant Kaufman has penned some of our favorite films ever (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Adaptation, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Being John Malcovich). Kaufman wrote the script for Synedoche, NY, and reportedly signed on to direct after Spike Jonze, who was pegged to helm the film, decided to take a walk on the wild side with Where the Wild Things Are. It's going to be interesting to see if Kaufman's directorial eye is as sharp as his pen.